Deception
by Frankizzle
Summary: Jinx is suspicious of the new recruit, but no-one else seems to share her distrust. Is she wrongly suspecting an innocent girl? Or does this girl have a secret? SE/S
1. Chapter 1

**AN - All I know about GI Joe is from the movie and other fanfics, so this is set in the movie-verse, but with some extra characters joining the party. If I write any character in the least bit OOC, let me know, because its almost a dead cert that you guys know more about these characters personalities than I do.**

**With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this. And don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer - I own few things in this world, and unfortunately GI Joe isn't one of them**

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Jinx wondered why on earth her Sensei had asked her to help train the new recruit's beginners class; it was no secret that she had little patience at the best of times, and she marveled at the way Snake Eyes was able to keep a cool head whilst dealing with some of these truly incompetent buffoons.

Honestly, this one couldn't even punch correctly, despite the fact that she had been instructing him on the right method for the past 20 minutes. She rolled her eyes and stopped him, showing him how to hold his fist properly for what felt like the thousandth time.

Her Sensei wandered around the class, whilst the ones who had finally mastered the punch had divided into pairs and were shadow boxing. She watched him in near awe - he never got frustrated, even when the person he was talking to couldn't understand ASL, and he always seemed to know how best to deal with a student.

With a mixture of shock and intense relief, she watched as the beginner she was teaching threw his first acceptable punch of the lesson. She congratulated him, and told him to do it a few more times so she could make sure he really could do it.

Once she was sure that it hadn't just been a fluke, she groaned internally at the thought of what lay ahead of her; she had to teach him how to kick now.

He proved to be surprisingly adept at kicks, or better than he was with handwork anyway, and it didn't take too long before he had managed the basics.

Before she could move on to blocks, her Sensei ended the class, slightly earlier than usual. As the beginners left the dojo, he made his way over to Jinx. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell he was amused about something.

"Sensei" she said, and bowed. He acknowledged her with a nod, and started signing.

*Did you enjoy that, young apprentice?* Jinx hesitated. She had to be honest with her master, and yet she did not think he would like to hear her truthful thoughts.

"Not particularly, Sensei"

*Why would that be?* his shoulders seemed to shake slightly whilst he answered, as though he was laughing at her.

"Well, I just don't understand how you can deal with them! I mean, the one I was instructing... there is only one word for him, absolutely hopeless! And then..." She fell silent the moment her master put up his hand, signaling for her to stop.

*I knew you would react like this* She felt her irritation grow.

"Then why did you ask me to do it, instead of Kamukara? If you knew..." her master stopped her again. He was no longer laughing.

*Why do you think I asked you to do it?* Jinx thought for a moment. What could her Sensei have possibly wanted her to learn from this exercise?

He was growing impatient *Come on, Jinx. Think about it. I know Kamukara would have done better than you at this* she was about to interrupt, but the glare he sent her instantly quelled her anger *he is more patient than you, you know he is. So, considering that I know that, what would have been the point of having Kamukara help me with the class? YOU are the one who needs to improve your patience, not him.* She shuffled and looked at her feet, highly embarrassed.

"I apologise for questioning you, Sensei"

He nodded *I will make you realise what you have learnt today. The new recruit you were teaching was unable to punch, even in the loosest sense of the word, when you began instructing him, yes?*

Jinx nodded.

*And you were getting very frustrated with him?*

"Yes, Sensei"

*But, and this is one of the things you have learnt, you did not let that frustration show. And it paid off in the end*

She nodded again, but one of the things her master had said confused her.

"Master, you said it was one of the things I have learnt today?" he inclined his head "What are the other things?"

*You will have to figure that out for yourself, young apprentice* and with that, Snake Eyes turned and walked away, presumably to find out if Scarlett was back from her mission yet. That was probably why he ended the class early, Jinx realised.

She went looking for Kamukara. It had been a while since she had teased him.

Earlier that morning, her Sensei had told Jinx that Scarlett still wasn't back, and that she would have to help with the beginners class.

So that was why she was here again, waiting for all the members of the class to filter into the dojo. Her master was not here yet; he had said something to her about a meeting with General Hawk, and that she should start the class if he wasn't there in time.

Suddenly, a flash of blonde caught her eye. Inconspicuously, she glanced over at where it was, and saw a girl sitting there. She looked to be about 22, or 23, had watery blue eyes and her brassy blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail.

Jinx thought this was strange. She wasn't in the class yesterday.

She waited for another 5 minutes for her Sensei, then decided to start the class.

"Okay, get into..."

She was interrupted by a male voice. "Where's that guy with the mask?"

"Master Snake Eyes is busy. I'll be teaching you for the first part of the class. Now..."

She was interrupted by a different voice this time. "Ah darling, you couldn't teach me nothing. I mean, look at you! Barely an inch thick!" this was met by loud laughter from one section of the group.

Jinx remembered what her Sensei had said about patience, and made herself count to ten before she answered. So, instead of shouting at him, as she so dearly wanted to, she smiled sweetly.

"Lets see about that, shall we? Why don't you step up to the mats?" her voice was dangerously nice. The individual who had spoken second stood up, and went to join her at the sparring mats.

"Don't worry, beautiful, I'll go easy on you"

Jinx said nothing, and adopted a ready stance.

"Are you ready? Okay... begin!"

Her opponent lunged towards her, and tried to punch her half-heartedly. She grabbed his fist before it had even closed half the distance between them, pulled him further towards her and kicked him in the stomach. She twisted the arm she had hold of so it was part-way up his back. This meant he would be uncomfortable, but the hold wouldn't actually break his arm. All it would take, however, would be a mere twitch of her hand, and Doc would be very angry with her.

Whilst she was contemplating whether to do it or not, and thinking of a decent excuse for Doc if she did, she heard her master's feather light footsteps stop in the doorway. She immediately released him from the hold and turned to bow. Snake Eyes walked into the room. He looked at the one who Jinx had sparred with, who was still clutching his arm, and gave the rest of the group a sweeping glance.

*Thankyou Jinx. I will take it from here* Jinx nodded and took her place at his side.

Whilst her master instructed the new recruits, she concentrated on listening to the heartbeats in the room. Her master had told her to practice that the last time they had trained.

They were all mostly steady - maybe heartbeat of the one who had almost had his arm broken was still a little bit irregular - except for one. One heartbeat in the room was going so fast it was like a thrumming sound, and was very erratic. She pinpointed this heartbeat to the new girl, who was gazing up adoringly at her master...

Oh no. No, this could not be happening. It took every ounce of self control Jinx possessed not to burst out laughing on the spot.

There was part of Jinx who felt genuinely sorry for her master. He went through this almost every single time a new female recruit joined. There was something about the strange, silent, mysterious ninja that attracted them like moths to a flame. They could never keep their eyes off him. Obviously, once they heard about Scarlett, they backed off...

Yeah, it was lucky for the ninja that he had a truly terrifying girlfriend. Once his admirers saw how close they were, and how protective they were of each other, they were left well alone.

Jinx was happy for them that the new recruit's 'love' fizzled out so quickly. But it was rather wonderfully funny while it lasted, so Jinx planned to enjoy every minute of it. And, Scarlett was still away on a mission, so hopefully this would go on for a little bit longer than the usual.

Her master had given no indication that he had heard the girls eccentric pulse, or her lovestruck eyes, but he was very good at hiding things like that.

Snake Eyes finished instructing them, and the ones who could understand ASL finished translating it to the ones who couldn't, and the lesson began.

For the first 20 minutes or so, Snake Eyes had them hit punching bags, and Jinx walked around the dojo with him, correcting those who made an error, and congratulating those who did it right. It did not escape Jinx's notice that whenever her Sensei walked past the new girl, her heart skipped a beat. Jinx rolled her eyes.

After that, they did 20 minutes of blocks, focusing on the more simple ones. When the majority of the class had managed to do at least one vaguely correctly, Snake Eyes called for the class to sit around the sparring mats.

He addressed the new girl.

*Do you understand ASL?* she nodded vigorously *Good. With all new recruits, either Jinx or I will spar them to find out where they need to improve. So, Jinx is going to spar you* the girl nodded again and joined Jinx, who was already stood on the mats.

Jinx mentally ordered herself not to be too hard on the new girl. Well, she thought with a wicked grin, she could try. But someone had to help Scarlett out when she wasn't here.

Her Sensei called for the sparring match to begin, and the first thing Jinx noticed was that the new girl didn't just lunge forward, as most of the other new recruits did, she instead mirrored Jinx as they circled each other. The second thing she noticed was that the new girl was in the basic Karate defensive stance.

The new girl flew at Jinx, who was mildly impressed by her speed. Jinx sidestepped out of the way of her attack and jabbed her kidneys as she shot past. The girl recovered from Jinx's jab, which wasn't even hard, and tried to kick her. Before the girls foot could connect with anything other than air, Jinx grabbed it and tried to twist. The new girls fist hit Jinx's nose out of sheer luck before she could twist very far, and Jinx was forced to let go. The new girl attempted to hit her again and again, but Jinx dodged her attacks with ease. Jinx didn't try too hard to hit her, but occasionally one of her blows would hit the girl. She noticed that the new girl didn't take as long as others had done to recover.

Eventually, Jinx became bored with the sparring match and ended it by pinning the new girl down on the floor with her fist inches above her forehead. She looked up at her Sensei, who nodded. Jinx rolled away from the girl and held out a hand to help her up.

The girl looked at Jinx with a mixture of disbelief, defiance and fear. She ignored the hand and got herself up gingerly, letting out a few moans and groans. Jinx shrugged and turned to her master, who dismissed the class. Instead of speaking to her about the day's class, Snake Eyes walked swiftly out of the dojo. Jinx supposed he was even more anxious than yesterday about Scarlett, considering the mission was meant to have been completed by last night.

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**AN - So, your thoughts? Loved it? Hated it? Review please! Flames welcome, but try to be constructive!**

**And if you have any particular characters you would like me to include in the story, either put it in a review or PM me, and I shall do my very best!**


	2. Innocent Hands

**AN - Sorry, this chapter's quite a bit shorter than the last one. And its taken me a fair while to update, I know, I'm sorry! I've also decided to name my chapters, for no reason other than it seems like a good idea at the moment. I would just like to thank all the truly wonderful people who reviewed! You all made my day!**

**Oh yeah, and I didn't mention it on the last chapter, but any text contained *like so* is ASL. I apologise for any possible confusion :/**

**I have a feeling some people in this chapter are OOC, I don't know. If its unbearable, let me know please.**

**Disclaimer - I own few things in this world, and unfortunately GI Joe isn't one of them**

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Chapter 2

Innocent Hands

Jinx didn't see the new recruit again until lunch. She walked into the mess hall to see the back of her head, waiting in the lunch queue. Jinx stepped lightly into line beside her. The girl turned and smiled nervously.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Jinx."

"Hi. I'm Sparrow"

Nothing more was said until it was Sparrows turn to get served. She looked down in mild disgust at the gooey mess that had been slumped onto her plate.

"What is it?" she asked the bored-looking guy behind the counter. He shrugged in reply.

"I think it's supposed to be a chicken korma," Jinx said peering at the yellow substance she had just been given. Sparrow stared at her. Jinx huffed almost silently in exasperation, turned on her heel and made her way over to an abandoned table, not bothering to see if the girl was following.

The sat down, and were soon joined by various Joes, many of whom Jinx would have preferred not to have sat with. Fortunately, however, they paid Jinx little attention, focusing on questioning the new girl.

Jinx mostly ignored them in return, until Kamakura sat down next to her.

"So who is she?" he asked in a barely audible murmur.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Jinx retorted.

"Well, I would, but I can't get a word in edgeways." There was a note of irritation in his voice and Jinx smiled inwardly.

"She's called Sparrow, a new recruit"

"Hawk doesn't usually let anymore people sign up at this time of year, does he?"

"No" was Jinx's curt reply.

"So why is she here?"

Jinx groaned, and stood up abruptly to go and dump her plate and tray, despite the fact she hadn't even eaten half of it. Kamakura stayed where he was.

She headed towards the dojo. She entered to see her Sensei completing the final movements of a particularly complicated kata. The moment he finished he turned around to face Jinx.

*What is it, apprentice?* his signs were very nearly too fast for Jinx to understand

"I was wondering if you might spar with me, Sensei?" she asked tentatively.

*Sorry, Jinx, I have to go* he brushed past her, and Jinx decided that taking into account the urgency with which he was signing and the way he didn't even give her anything she should do in his absence, that there was something very important going on. She followed and finally caught up with him in Cover Girls office.

"Look Snake Eyes, I'm really sorry, but Hawk simply cannot be disturbed." Cover Girl explained patiently.

Snake Eyes clenched his fists and started pacing angrily around her office. Jinx was quite surprised; her Sensei usually kept such a cool head. Catching sight of his apprentice, he stopped. Cover Girl noticed Jinx too.

"Jinx, would you please explain to him that he simply can't go barging into a Generals office!" Snake Eyes turned back to Cover Girl.

*Well, why not? This is important* he stressed the sign for important.

"So is what's going on in there! Honestly, I really would let you see him in any other circumstances; I know you wouldn't waste his time, but…"

At that moment, the door to Hawk's office opened and Hawk stepped out. Snake Eyes rushed up to him before Cover Girl could stop him and started signing rapidly.

*Is the mission back? How did it go? Is Scarlett back? Is she okay?* Hawk held up his hands to quiet him.

"Easy, solider. No, they're not back yet"

Snake Eyes shoulders visibly slumped, before he stood straight and alert again.

*Is there a problem? How is it going? Why have they not returned yet? Have they made contact?*

"Calm down. There is no problem, and it is going fine."

*How do you know? Have they made contact?*

Hawk sighed "No, they haven't made contact" Snake Eyes began to sign frantically once more and Hawk groaned in frustration "Just because they've run a little behind schedule, and they haven't made contact yet, that does NOT mean they are in trouble. How many missions have you been on where you've been late, but nothing was wrong?" This silenced the distressed ninja.

"Exactly" Hawk continued "They were due back last night, and whilst I agree it isn't like a team lead by Scarlett to be late, that doesn't automatically mean they're in trouble and need our help"

Snake Eyes nodded.

"And don't you dare go after them." There was a pause, and after Snake Eyes didn't answer, Hawk continued "I mean it, sergeant. If you do, I'll make sure you don't go on a mission for so long you'll forget what a COBRA uniform looks like. Do I make myself clear?"

*Yes, General*

"Very well, then. Dismissed." Snake Eyes saluted smartly and swept from the room. Jinx followed seconds after, and saw her master leaning back against a wall holding his head in one hand.

"Sensei?" she said softly. His head snapped up.

*Yes?*

"Are you okay?" She was pretty sure she was crossing some sort of line, but she continued regardless.

*Yes. Now go* Jinx considered pressing him for information, but decided against it; she knew that if someone was pestering her about something she clearly didn't want to talk about, she wouldn't be too happy about it.

Jinx bowed and left her Sensei to his thoughts.

_ _ _ _ _ _

The next day, in training, her master wasn't his usual self. He was quiet usually, but this was different. It just seemed as though he couldn't be bothered, and he wasn't concentrating properly. Jinx had twice almost kicked him in the head in the last 5 minutes, and he didn't keep stopping hers and Kamakura's arguments like he normally did.

He ended his and Jinx's sparring match, and instructed them to go through all the katas until he returned, then he left the dojo swiftly. It wasn't unusual for him to set them such a task, but he would generally watch them for a short while before he left.

Jinx shared a confused glance with Kamakura, then shrugged and got on with her task. She felt Kamakura do the same beside her, and they started competing to see who could do it the fastest.

_ _ _ _ _ _

Snake Eyes was a corridor away from Hawks office when a hand appeared on his chest. He followed the arm and found it was connected to Stalker.

"Snakes…" he said, disapprovingly.

*Yes?* Snake Eyes did his best to sign innocently. It didn't work.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You can't keep pestering Hawk."

*I do not know what you are talking about* The innocent signing continued.

"Yes you do. Scarlett is perfectly fine. You don't need to do anything, Hawk doesn't need to send a team in." Snake Eyes decided to drop the innocent approach.

*But what if she is in trouble. I just…*

Stalker interrupted him "You don't know she's in trouble. Scarlett's tough. And how do you think she'd react if you burst in there, all macho-hero, and she had everything under control?"

The frankly terrifying prospect of Scarlett's wrath temporarily stilled his frenzied hands.

"Look, I know you're worried about her, and I understand that. But you need to relax. This is her thing. Let her do it"

Snake Eyes paused, before nodded reluctantly. He turned and grudgingly walked in the opposite direction from Hawks office, back to his apprentices.

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**AN - Are they OOC? Do you think Snake Eyes worry about Scarlett has come on too quickly? Is it unbelievable? I had some serious difficulty writing this chapter, so let me know!**

**If you have any favourite characters, tell me about them and I will try to include them :)**

**Review please!**


	3. Embarrassing Incidents

**AN - I want to thank all the people who reviewed and all the people who added this story to their alerts! You're all truly wonderful! Again, if the characters are acting OOC, let me know. Any text contained *like so* is signed.**

**I'm looking for a beta, preferably someone who knows quite a bit about GI Joe to make up for my lack of knowledge, so if you can beta, let me know please.**

**Disclaimer - I own few things in this world, and unfortunately GI Joe isn't one of them**

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Chapter 3

Embarrassing Incidents

Sparrow was flouncing around the gym, and Jinx was watching her discreetly. Her face was a mask of indifference, but she seethed inside; damn, that girl was so annoying! The way she pranced around the Pit all the time, acting like she owned the place. The way she ass-kissed everyone of a higher rank, and completely disregarded those of a lower or equal rank. The way she just seemed... Jinx didn't really know how to describe it. Fake? Yes, that was as good a word as any – the way she just seemed fake all the time, as if she was just putting on a show.

And her complete obsession with Jinx's Sensei! It had been funny at first, but now it was just irritating. Jinx was quite impatient for Scarlett to come back and kick the crap out of her. She kept bothering Jinx about him, constantly pestering her and asking questions about him.

Sparrow had approached Jinx at the end of a training session.

"_Umm, Jinx?" she asked tentatively. Jinx turned around._

"_What is it?" she snapped, exasperated. She had already had enough of this girl during the class._

"_I was just wondering... why does Snake Eyes wear a mask all the time?"_

_She glared at the unbelievably nosy girl. It wasn't really the question that bothered her - almost all of the new recruits wanted to know why - but Jinx wished she would have enough courage to ask him herself._

"_Why don't you ask him?" she replied coolly. Sparrow looked a bit shocked; not many people at the base had been quite as... abrupt with her as Jinx had._

"_Well, I would, but I know he's really busy, and I just thought that I'd ask you instead, since you're so close to him, and since he obviously respects you..." she said in a sickly sweet voice. Jinx just managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the obvious flattery. Really, this girl was pathetic._

_Jinx could feel a cutting retort building up inside her, so she gave Sparrow a disdainful look and walked away._

And that was just the first time Sparrow had hassled Jinx about her Sensei - Jinx was beginning to feel like her masters PR manager. There had been multiple incidents since then, the majority of which ended in Jinx walking away before saying something perhaps a bit too cruel. Seriously, this girl was turning into some sort of Snake Eyes stalker. Jinx often wondered if anyone else on the team got just as frustrated as Jinx did with Sparrow.

_ _ _ _ _ _

The first time Sparrow had spoken to Kamakura was when Jinx hadn't answered her question about Snake Eyes and his mask. Sparrow spotted him sitting on his own in the mess hall, and walked over to him, switching on her very best alluring smile.

"Mind if I sit here?" she said softly to him. He looked up, confused, but nodded and gestured to a seat anyway. She sat down opposite from him, and started eating. She decided to wait awhile before getting to the real reason she came to sit here – no need to anger or insult him. When an acceptable length of time had passed, she spoke.

"Hey, Kamakura..." she waited until he looked at her before continuing "I was just wondering about that guy who takes my Defence classes? What's his name... Snake Eyes, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's him. What were you wondering about?" Kamakura asked.

"Well, why does he wear a mask all the time? Surely it can't be comfortable. Or practical."

Kamakura looked hesitant, and his eyes shifted around.

"Umm, I don't know if he'd want me to talk about that..." He was clearly uncomfortable. He looked down and started pushing his remaining food around his plate.

"Come on now" she purred "Surely he wouldn't mind. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone." He didn't reply, so she reached over and lightly touched his hand. He looked like he was about to break, and Sparrow congratulated herself on her victory.

"Why would it matter if he was bothered about you telling me anyway? He's not that important" she continued. She saw anger flash in his eyes, and immediately regretted saying it. That was evidently the wrong line to take.

"He is _very_ important" he nearly growled. He stood up, took his tray and walked off, unmistakably insulted. Sparrow inwardly cursed herself. And she had been so close too!

_ _ _ _ _

Jinx had watched the curious exchange from across the cafeteria, and it had surprised her. She had never seen Kamakura get so angry! It had also raised a fair few questions, the main one being what the subject of the conversation was. Jinx fully intended to find out, so when Kamakura had stormed off (there really was no other term for it) Jinx had followed.

Another interesting question – why had Sparrow touched his arm? That must have literally been the very first time they had spoken, so why get so personal?

And yet another interesting question – why was Sparrow talking to Kamakura in the first place? The curiosity was eating up Jinx inside, so she picked up the pace and cornered Kamakura in a deserted corridor.

"What did Sparrow say to you at lunch?"

Kamakura was clearly taken aback by her seemingly random question, but gathered himself.

"She asked about Sensei and his mask..." he tensed visibly "Then she insulted him." he continued through gritted teeth. Jinx nodded, more to herself than to her fellow apprentice. That would make sense. First question answered.

"And she touched your arm?" Kamakura looked confused now, and thoughtful.

"Yes... yes, she did. I wonder why that was..." he sounded quite befuddled.

"Me too. Was that the very first time she had spoken to you?"

"Yes, yes it was" he seemed even more perplexed than before "she was just completely random, she came to sit with me out of the blue... and she kept looking at me funny and talking in a bit of a weird, husky voice. I think..." a faint blush coloured his cheeks "I mean, I don't know... but... I think she was trying to flirt with me" Jinx looked at him questioningly and the blush deepened. He didn't say anything and fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

So that was why she had touched his arm, Jinx thought. Second question answered.

"Do you know why she asked you about Sensei and his mask in the first place?"

"No. I think she was trying to make it sound like she didn't really know who he was, and was merely curious about him" Kamakura paused, with a pensive look on his face "It didn't really work though, I could tell she was a little desperate for the information."

"Okay..." Jinx replied "And what do you think about her?"

Kamakura didn't answer at first. He appeared to be thinking something over. "Personally, I think she's putting on a show. Like she's acting out a role"

"Yeah I know what you mean. I agree, she seems to be a bit fake" Jinx said seriously.

The two ninja apprentices looked at each other, stunned. Kamakura was the first to break the awkward and shocked silence between them.

"Did we just... agree...?" He struggled to get his words out properly.

"Yes, I think we did" Jinx whispered, with a horrified expression. Suddenly she grabbed Kamakura's arm. "We never speak about this. Ever." He nodded vigorously.

They glanced at each other, mortified, before walking hurriedly in completely separate directions.

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**AN - So what do you think? Is it believable? Readers loved, but reviewers are Gods Amongst Men :)**

**If you have any favourite characters, tell me about them and I will try to include them.**


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